unhappy honeysuckle

I bought four honeysuckles on two different occasions in the last couple of months or so. They are planted next to trellises in two different parts of the garden. They have all grown reasonably well but all of them have lost most of their leaves. They seem to dry up and drop off. I'm pretty sure I've watered them enough. The only tiny thing I might not have done brilliantly is to plant them deeply enough - but I'm not sure if that's true. One of them seems to have risen up so has some of its roots visible (I've replanted that one.) Any ideas, anyone? I will be really grateful.
I'm new here by the way, so hello!

 

Thanks for that - I'll try being nicer to them! If I replant would I be better off cutting them down to reduce the shock to their systems?

 

Hi Any chance of a photo?

It may be easier just to top-dress the soil rather than digging them up or give them a mulch , plus I would leave for now and wait till Autumn to re-plant if needed , as Armandii said they are tough plants so I would probably leave alone they do drop a lot of the bottom leaves as they are naturaly a climbing plant so I woudnt over worry as long as you keep them well watered , dont feed this time of year as you want the stems to ripen and they will survive better through the winter

Hopfully you planted at the same level as the pots it is clematis that you plant much deeper , sound like you havnt watered them enough , thats the problem when growing plants next to a wall and they have only just been planted this year


Hope this helps

Welcome to the Forum as well , its a happy place to be with people like minded .

Spruce

 

from what I have seen, honeysuckle do better in semi-shade?

 

Thanks for all the help. There's not much point in a photo as all you'll see is a bare stem!! I had assumed that if leaves fell off for whatever reason, they just fell. These have dried up on the stem and crumbled. As autumn is coming I'll wait and try and be kind to them. I was concerned that they'd caught some dreaded disease.

Fuchsialady

 

Honeysuckles are frequently unhappy. Even if you plant them in exactly the right spot, feed them and talk to them nicely they can still go through phases of looking absolutely dreadful. They don't die; they simply sulk, feel sorry for themselves and generally make you feel gloomy. I know a few people like this. My Mum calls them Creaking Doors.

It's a funny old time of year. Plants are still growing and in flower but they're beginning to think about hunkering down for another winter. I'm sure your honeysuckles will be fine next spring. Until, that is, they decide to have another sulk. When mine become an eyesore I sort them out with a good haircut. They soon regrow and look all the better for a chop.

 

I agree with Clare. About 15 years ago I planted two, one each side of an arch, one grew to about 3', thought 'no way', disappeared and hasn't been seen since - the other is still going. It's a bit straggly so I chopped it down to the ground some weeks ago - albeit a bit half-hearted, but it's currently in bloom.

 

if the area is a in a sunny position, nothing beats star Jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides )

evergreen .... smells good .... and leaves and flowers form from the ground all the way up .... mature Honeysuckle tends to be bare on the bottom and very woody ... not my favourite creeper, and I normally avoid planting them, unless the client insists